Spotting Is For Idiots

Here’s a video that’s tagged as showing squat fails, but more of a standout are the morons who stand by to spot or “help” these narcissist “lifters.”

It’s bad enough these ego lifters set out to do what they do, but the mystery is the ease with which they can recruit even stupider people to put themselves in dire straits…and for what? It doesn’t take a genius to look at some of these situations and deduce the risk to the helper is overwhelming.

If you’re suckered/shamed into spotting for some entitled asshole, that’s all on you. Quite a few recent quadriplegics will probably agree with me.

A Trainer To The Hollywood Stars Explains

I was compelled to respond to this YouTube video posted by a trainer to Hollywood stars for its suspicious content. This is a promotional video for this guy's business. I get it—and I don't have any problem with that, with earnest self promotion to keep his career expanding. However I think a lot has been left out or glossed over here, as physically unaccomplished actors turning into superheroes overnight with such ease fails the litmus test.

Speaking as a Personal Trainer in Hollywood for over two decades, I am skeptical that Bradley Cooper, as just one example in this video, who has stated he did not engage in any challenging ongoing exercise routine previously, was brought to such a high level of strength and fitness in less than 12 weeks—and all without injury as claimed.

Even with an assist via legitimate physician-prescribed and closely monitored testosterone or anabolic steroid administration, such a feat in my experience would be well above and beyond extraordinary. As my readers know, I am a major proponent of physician-prescribed and monitored HRT and anabolic steroid application, as I am of any monitored physician-prescribed pharmaceutical or treatment deemed to be individually beneficial and warranted.

The workouts as described here would be physically battering and depleting even for someone in my condition, so to believe that all these inexperienced actors (who in this vid are unrealistically portrayed by super-experienced fitness models in extraordinary condition) accomplished what is claimed, and in such an abbreviated time period...well...I don't buy it.

Shame On Christine Byrne and Huffington Post For This Bullshit.

Link to the article in question HERE

“You aren’t responsible for your shitty health and body” and “You might as well give up” are the self-serving messages of this disservicing piece by chronically overweight Christine Byrne. Crammed full of New Age, Crystal-Worshipping, Abracradabra Bullshit is this absurdity penned (and knowing the Post’s well-documented reputation for not paying freelance writers, probably uncompensated) for the Huffington Post by a woefully uninformed, deeply prejudiced failure.

I’m sure it will be enthusiastically embraced by the like-minded legions of fellow failures at something as simple and logical as maintaining the one and only body you will ever inhabit.

If you run your car into the ground you can always buy a new one. The same with your house, your credit rating, and more. But run your body into the ground, and as Porky Pig stutters with a big smile, “That’s All Folks!

Your Chosen Diet Is Yours Alone.

This is why COUNTING CALORIES is essential to both weight/fat loss and muscle building. 

Baffling & Inexplicable...

...that there could be so many of these people.

If You Really Want To Fuck Up Your Spine, Train with This "Professional."

This is preposterously bad/injurious form:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BosGjQbBDD9/

Cutting Through The Noise

If you’re one of those people who searches the internet for fitness or nutrition advice, then your head is probably spinning right about now.

There’s no shortage of fitness "gurus" claiming to have the answer or telling you the only way is their way. Endless arguments over workout type, how much weight you should be lifting, how often you should work out, what to eat, what not to eat — often people who have really impressive physiques are in direct opposition with one another, so who are we to believe or follow?

To begin with I’d go with those who are not posturing. The loud animated lecturers are the most annoying—shouting and wildly waving your arms doesn’t make anyone seem more credible, just more desperate. If some doofus is inferring you’re not a man or you’re some loser because you aren’t doing things his way, i.e., you’re not lifting heavy enough or not doing squats or bench pressing or whatever, that should be your cue to move on to someone else.

As a personal trainer I am always baffled by people who had achieved success in their career or business who failed to apply those very same principals to their fitness, health and well-being— persistence being the main one. The same people who willingly put in overtime at the office scoff at doing the same with regard to their fitness and nutrition, refusing to research on Google or YouTube, even when I sent them direct links to useful information.

Thinking all you have to do is show up might get you somewhere, but not as far as your full potential indicates if you also do your research and homework.

Dexter Jackson Wants You To Lighten Up

I've stated before that you have to decide whether your goal is to be a bodybuilder or a powerlifter, because combining the two only leads to injury and compromised results. So many guys at the gym are fixated on "going heavy," while their resultant poor form, physical struggle and poor esthetics should be telling them they're spinning their wheels.
I get puzzled looks from guys at my gym when I'm doing presses with 30lb dumbbells and they're struggling with 60s, yet my chest size and shape is similar to theirs. Their entire set is an awkward precarious struggle with their delts doing most of the work (it's a CHEST exercise, not a SHOULDER exercise). Mine is fluid and controlled with my pecs in charge of the movement and minimal shoulder involvement.

Actor Pete Koch: 56 Years Old.

Pete's life in pictures:

https://www.google.com/search?q=actor+pete+koch&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=J-8At0F28VWWeM%253A%252CVjy6NuSrtVG88M%252C_&usg=AI4_-kSaklveSYIuXz3SgnpSxBJmB5-GFQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivgq2_vPDeAhXWJTQIHTJbBBoQ_h0wFXoECAEQCA#imgrc=J-8At0F28VWWeM:

New Year's Resolution? Got It.

Grow Younger By Losing The Fat

https://damnripped.com/

Not only is this man's transformation remarkable for the fact his youthful "after" body has taken a couple decades off his age, but even his face is younger.

Denial is the main reason why people fail to see how they actually look or admit to how poorly they feel. Yes, change is uncomfortable - but not nearly as uncomfortable as the self-inflicted disabilities that come from an absence of self-care.

Make FIXING YOURSELF your New Year's Resolution—beginning today rather than waiting for January 1.

Your Workout Playlist Could Be The #1 Thing Holding You Back.

photo courtesy http://fortemag.com.au

Bringing your favorite music to the gym is a big mistake.

At every gym I’ve ever worked out at the radio is played over loud speakers. Since I’m not a big fan of 80% of what they play on the radio, this muzak is not an issue for me. If on the other hand they were streaming all my favorite songs at the gym, I would find myself continually involved in the playlist. I’d be keeping the beat with my foot, humming along, admiring a clever riff here and there, recalling where I was and who I was with when I first heard it, etc. But thankfully they’re not playing my favorites, and so I can tune it out and concentrate on the workout.

Having a favorite gym playlist on your device is an intentional distraction from the task at hand. If you believe working out is boring and therefore you need multiple distractions to get through the terrible ordeal of self-care, you’re missing the whole point of working out. If you were working out properly with good form and with the required intensity and concentration and following a plan, your workout would be the exact opposite of boring. In addition you’d be too spent and out of breath to have the energy to be swiping your phone or adjusting your iPod every two minutes. Nobody who experiences a positive transformation in their body would ever describe the process as boring. Hard work is never boring. Uncomfortable, yes. Painful, sometimes. Challenging, always. But never boring.

People are bored because they’re doing it all wrong, with low energy and lacking the desire to learn, and thus they see little if anything in the way of desired results. It would be one thing if people were watching a video on how to perform their chosen exercise correctly, but never once have I seen anyone who is on their phone at the gym doing such a practical, logical thing as watching a workout video to improve their form. Rather, it’s all CandyCrush, Instagram and Tinder.

Hyper-Extending: The Best Way To Permanently Fuck Up Your Joints.

In this screenshot from his video, Scott Herman hyper-extends his right arm, essentially resting. He has released the stress on his right biceps, thus taking them out of the equation. He needs to keep a bend in his right elbow at this stage to maintain the flex in the biceps, which will reduce the stress on his right elbow substantially as he powers up for the next rep.

Hyper-Extending is both useless and dangerous.

A muscle can stretch or extend only so far. Going beyond that point is called HYPER-EXTENDING. Hyperextending adds NOTHING to the result—except a world of hurt. 

I see guys doing barbell biceps curls on a preacher bench, or going below parallel on dumbbell chest presses for example, in which enormous stress is placed on the joints to accomplish their hyper-extending. Not only does the target muscle not receive any additional benefit from hyper-extending, but quite the opposite, since the flex and concentration on the target muscle must be released/disengaged in order to accomplish a hyper-extension, thus transferring the stress from the muscle you are trying to enlarge to your fragile joints.

And for those who claim their joints are "just fine, thank you": tick-tock.

But hey, what do I know? I’ve just been working out for 58 years and still going strong—and I can guarantee that those of you who are big fans of the hyper-extension sure as hell won’t be.

The Amazing Ross Edgley Has Swum 1791 Miles Around Britain!

Read the story on CNN:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/04/europe/ross-edgley-swims-around-great-britain-trnd/index.html

62 year old Inspiration/ Александр Яшанькин 62 года.

Ass To Grass Exacts A Heavy Toll

Richard Sullivan @ age 52: 5'9", 196 lbs.

The fake controversy that refuses to go away is Ass-To-Grass (ATG). Proponents of this squatting tomfoolery are predominantly amped-up young people who lecture that since they haven’t blown out their knees yet, that they know what’s best for all.

Furthermore, their immature/inexperienced claim that legs can’t be built without ATG is just ignorant. I have never gone the ATG route, but photos of my quads seen here in my early 50s prove ATG claims as to their "necessity" are groundless. 

Two thirds of my power quad workout has always been leg presses and machine hack squats as opposed to the squat rack, so think twice before buying in to those pontificating that impressive quads can’t be built unless you barbell squat. It ain't so.

Our knees are hinges—not shock absorbers.

There are some truly cringe-worthy videos online showing guys with a loaded bar literally dropping full speed from a starting position into an ass-to-the-grass position, and even worse, using a bounce at the bottom to propel themselves upward again. Ouch!

Common sense isn’t at all common if the endless foolishness played out in YouTube gym and workout videos are any measure, and I believe they are. These numerous likeminded people are getting their bizarre “techniques” (for want of a better term) from somewhere, and that has to be videos of others doing the same. But why they choose to follow the morons rather than the many, many responsible, grounded and accomplished fitness vloggers and bodybuilders online is anyone’s guess.

Save your knees. They’ll really come in handy in your later years— trust me.

Why I Have No Interest In Entering Contests

Richard Sullivan @ age 52

A trainer at my gym who otherwise never speaks to me suddenly asked if I was interested in competing in an upcoming contest. He was very complimentary—which was both kind and welcome, but seemed put out when I told him I didn’t have any desire to stand on stage, nor did I relish contest prep and all that it required.

When in my late 40s and early 50s I was almost continually “contest-ready,” according to others’ opinions, whenever I worked out at Gold’s Venice or ate at The Firehouse or visited bodybuilder stores like Max Muscle. People just didn’t accept that I maintained the condition that I did “just because,” with no endgame in mind.

What I didn’t mention to them, so as not to offend, were two things: that I don’t care about approval from others, and that during the 1980s when I watched bodybuilding contests on ESPN and attended quite a few in person with my gym friends, that the person who I/we were sure was going to win often did not. Judging in bodybuilding contests at that time was suspicious if not sketchy. In fact it was known that some bodybuilders did special favors for judges in order to influence their vote.

I fully understand the ego lift that official accolades bring, but I also have witnessed the enormous investment that some bodybuilders I knew made to be recognized and went unrewarded, and how that affected them mentally and physically. Depression among bodybuilders is common, and when someone is pumped up to win, but loses badly after many months of sacrifice, grueling work and preparation, they can really crash.

Living and working in Hollywood as a professional photographer as I did for many years I was continually exposed to men and women who were certain they would make it bigtime in films or music, only to see 99% of them disappointed. I counted myself lucky in that I had no desire to be an actor, model, rock star or any other kind of celebrity for that matter.

Competitive people like to think of themselves as strong. In fact they think there’s something wrong with those who are not competitive. However being competitive means having a strong drive—a need in fact—to prove oneself as being as good or better than the next guy.

Some people already know they’re as good, or better, than the next guy.

65 Year Old Canadian Rick Newcombe

https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/mobile/video?clipId=1485476&binId=1.1203434&playlistPageNum=1

Click the link above to watch the video of Edmonton bodybuilder Rick Newcombe.

Video Inspiration: 58-Year-Old Bodybuilder

YOUR NEW BODY: Dressing The Part

No baggy T-shirts here!

You've worked hard to lose fat and build muscle but maybe haven't given too much thought to a new way of dressing to best accentuate the NEW YOU and your accomplishments. If you're an older gentleman who formerly tended toward choosing styles that the out-of-shape older crowd gravitate to, maybe it's time to dress more for the new youthful physique than the old.

SHEEHAN & CO. is an outfit I just ran across online when searching for Henley shirts. This label has a great website whose mature owner models most of the clothes that accentuate his fit body. All designed and are made in the USA with great attention paid to detail.

Visit the WEBSITE and have a look around.

Sheehan & Co.'s take on the classic long underwear Unionsuit.

Pete Koch: Inspiration

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk80MOlnVeQ/?taken-by=petekoch

MY PROTEIN’s Shitty Customer Service

Companies that go well out of their way to alienate their customers are the same ones that bitch and moan when business starts falling off, as if it’s not their own fault.

MyProtein supplements is an ideal example. I placed my most recent order October 11. As can be seen in the screenshot, delivery was predicted between the 17th and 19th. I began inquiring on the 22nd about “Where Is My Order?”, with no response. A “chat” then went nowhere with the idiot agent asking me to jump through absurd hoops (even my bank doesn’t ask for this much information) and taking up to 5 minutes to respond to each response. After 20 wasted minutes I gave up. On a scale of a one-to-ten rating regarding this company’s communication skills, I vote zero.

Without any explanation I finally got a message from the US Post Office (NOT from MyProtein) on the 25th telling me my delivery date was slated for November 3rd.

Even more problematic is MyProtein took my payment, then WAITED 11 DAYS before shipping my order, with no explanation, no apology, etc.

Think twice about doing business with these disrespectful people. 

How Internet Fame Diminishes Both Followers and the Object Of Their Admiration

from: mirror.co.uk

A recent YouTube video from a European internet trainer that I like, and follow, made me cringe.

There was much suspicious about this travel vlog featuring his visit to an American tourist mecca. He was hosted there by one of his online training clients who had a very expensive apartment (or condo) in one of the nation’s most expensive cities in which to live, San Francisco. The client sported no physique development whatsoever, as evidenced both from the duo’s visit to a local gym and the contents of his refrigerator. In one segment the trainer mused about one day having enough money to open his own gym, yet here he is jetting all over the world on a continual basis, seemingly going to one exotic destination or another just about every month.

He ate at SF’s most expensive $ushi re$taurant and enjoyed a $21 hamburger at another. Finally he was stupid enough to show off the fact that as he was at the airport leaving SF for a flight to Los Angeles, he was not flying commercial, but rather on a private jet, raising a lot of questions.

There has been much said about Instagram stars' carefully constructed “perfect” lives and the demoralizing effect it has on some followers, especially after being found out as contrived, exaggerated, or even outright faked. This trainer does neither himself nor his followers any favors by exposing his increasingly inflated ego. His initial modesty was in fact what drew me and many other followers to him in the first place. That segment of his followers who thrive on fantasy will continue to fawn over him, but those who have their feet on the ground will find this change disappointing and demoralizing.

October Inspiration

https://www.instagram.com/shan_hefley/

Why I Get Up At 4 A.M.—Or Earlier

For whatever reason about two years ago, no matter what time I went to bed the night before, I began waking up anytime between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. More recently it’s often closer to 4 a.m. It’s a natural occurrence wherein if I force myself to stay in bed I just lie there thinking useless crap anyway, so instead I get out of bed and start my day productively.

Traditionally I’ve worked out between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., mostly because in most places I have lived, the gym is least crowded at that time. I didn’t even know what time my gym opened in the morning, but when I discovered it opens at 4 a.m., and I was not accomplishing as much at home for the first few hours I was awake, I decided to try working out first thing in the morning.

What shocked me is how crazy crowded my gym is that early in the morning—more crowded than I’ve ever seen it. In the back of my head I wondered at first how I’d ever get motivated to do heavy leg presses at 4:30 until I saw these “everyday” (meaning, non-bodybuilders) doing the same, along with squats, deadlifts and the other heavy-duty exercises. Quite quickly it became normal to attack my workout routine at this unseemly hour.

Going to the gym this early is not to “get it out of the way,” as I love going to the gym and the rewards it brings, so my workout is something to look forward to rather than get over with. But it does feel great coming home with a great pump at a time when most of my neighbors are still an hour away from getting out of their beds.

Change is uncomfortable at first but often it can be a kick-start to new adventures and improved outcomes. 

Make Your Bodybuilders' Diet A Lot More Tasty

Back in the olden days when I was a waiter at a celebrity restaurant in LA called the Melting Pot on La Cienega Blvd., everyone from Streisand, Donna Summer and Liza Minnelli to Jon Voigt, Tom Jones and Clive Davis frequented the place - every night. It was the height of the MSG disinformation era when people were convinced that the substance, among other ills, caused migraine headaches. It didn't. The Melting Pot's food was so delicious precisely because MSG was in everything, so when people asked, "Is there MSG in that? I'm allergic!" I said "Of course not!"

Later on, NITRATES were claimed to be the poison du jour in our food. And today, everyone is supposedly gluten intolerant or whatever. 

Recently a friend hosted friends from California, one of whom upon being invited to dinner proclaimed loudly and often that he was vegan and therefore would bring his own food rather than eat the host's (delicious) meat-food. He brought a fucking chicken sandwich—no lie. Too many Sad Sacks seek attention via their so-called food allergies and recently-adopted beliefs. They're full of shit. Their crappy diet overall is their real problem. 

Here's a link to an article in ESQUIRE magazine about MSG. Read it or not. But if you are bored silly with your chicken breast-broccoli-rice diet, adding a little MSG will make these same foods come alive again.

https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/food/a23566452/its-time-for-america-to-fall-back-in-love-with-msg/

51-Year-Old Chuando Tan

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/chuandotan/

INSPIRATION: Amazing 10-month Transformation.

POSTURE: The Unending Fight Against Gravity

Nothing will ruin all your good work at the gym faster than bad posture. There are quite a few guys and girls at my gym who are impressively muscled yet have really poor posture, and since mirrors are everywhere, how can they not see this? 

I work on posture throughout the day. Immediately after getting out of bed at 5 a.m. When I walk the dog, wash dishes, carry heavy things. But most markedly I make a great effort at the gym as I work out to stand straight and tall, stomach in, shoulders back, chest out as I do curls, delts and all the rest. But in between sets is the hardest, as I am depleted physically, trying to recover for the next set, and maintaining good posture while struggling for breath isn’t easy or pleasant.

Good posture while performing your exercises is a necessity in the pursuit of proper form. Proper form = optimum results.

We’re Stronger On The Negative Than On The Positive.

We’re stronger on the negative portion of our workout exercises than we are on the positive portion, so why do so many people throw the negative away entirely rather than utilize it to get bigger and stronger faster? That’s tantamount to going to KFC and nibbling off just the crispy bits and then throwing the breast meat in the garbage. 

If you’re throwing away the negative portion of your workout exercises, you’re throwing away up to 60% of your potential muscle growth. Most people give no thought to this, much less apply effort. We see people at the gym whipping through their set as if they can’t wait to get it over with, demon speeding like they’re on some ride at Disneyland. One reason for this is ego—using a weight that’s too heavy for them to properly handle in that particular situation, and thus feeling the the urgency to get the set over and done with, rather than reveling in it.

To best utilize the negative we have to learn to embrace the discomfort (not to be confused with actual pain) in the target muscle as we methodically flow through the arc of each rep. 

Instead of chasing a predetermined number, such as 10 reps, I chase the pump. Six excellent reps, methodically performed so that at every degree in the arc my mind is totally focused on the target muscle and the goal of engorging it with blood, are far more effective than ten sloppy reps.

The negative (concentric) portion of the exercise is even MORE important to growth of both size and strength than the positive (eccentric) portion. The negative properly done will build muscle and get you where you want to go faster and with better results than just the positive alone, as so many presently perform it. 

If you do biceps curls with dumbbells presently, try using cables or resistance bands next time. Resisting on the negative with cables is “easier” and more fluid than with the dead weight of a dumbbell or barbell.

Even more challenging than fighting gravity on the negative portion is actually applying increased resistance on the negative as compared to the positive. This will take you even further, sooner.

Watch Jeff Cavaliere graphically demonstrate this in the video above.

"Body Positivity" and Other Bullshit

Click to see the Huffington Post feature

Right at this moment all of us inhabit the exact body we have intentionally created. Yeah, I hear the “well—what about?” crowd screaming loudly now. What about people who were in accidents, or contracted an illness? Obviously we’re not talking about these people but rather the vast majority who have intentionally created and promoted their own physical decline. The whatabouts are made up of the exception-to-the-rule crowd, those types always looking for an out, ignoring the core 99% of the issue so as to promote their self-serving 1% example.

Nobody likes to be criticized, much less shamed. Yet there is no more obvious outward display of one’s overall self esteem than our bodies, how we've made them look and perform. Look around: people pretending they have no control or interest over what they eat or how much beneficial physical activity they engage in are, sadly, the majority. One’s taking responsibility has never been a strong human trait. “Trying to get away with it” on the other hand, has.

It’s all well and good that people want to eat whatever they want whenever they want in any quantity they want, or that they don’t want to exert themselves physically. But demanding accommodation from others to support the inevitable negative results of their choice is grotesque, and that’s where preposterous campaigns like “Body Positivity” come in. “Body Positivity” apparently means not only accepting the negative results of one’s poor choices, but actually celebrating them.

This “accept and celebrate your failure to lead a healthful life” campaign is no different than a loud, media-supported, emotionally-charged campaign to accept, celebrate and flaunt how deeply in debt you’ve gotten yourself. It’s no different than accepting and celebrating termites eating away at your house, or the bald tires on the car you chauffeur your kids around in. In truth most people with termites or tire or debt problems would go out of their way to responsibly fix these things before they caused inextricably serious consequences, yet many of the same people pay no attention to their deteriorating body and decreased mobility, and thus, their core health. There is no separating the two despite the Body Positivity crowd's ludicrous campaign against facts.

Human nature is such that we first create the problem then not until that problem becomes intolerable do we seek a fix or cure or solution, often when it's too late. Prevention is far easier, cheaper and more accessible than a cure.

“Body Positivity” is bullshit. In this link to the air-headed Huffington Post feature, it is egregious that the fashion crowd have lumped together people who choose to eat too much with others in wheelchairs or with skin conditions, as if they are one and the same. The message they promote is vile. It’s an insult to those who truly have conditions as a direct result of circumstance to equate them with overeaters who choose and are in complete control of their so-called “condition.”

Gym Etiquette Is Of No Interest To Jerks

Circus stunts have no place in the gym.

On a regular basis I see articles online about gym etiquette. Those entitled jerks who lack gym etiquette have no interest in such articles or the practice of basic good manners, because, well…they’re jerks.

The definition of the entitled is that society’s norms do not apply to them because they are special, so it’s really a hopeless battle. The cell phone addicts are addicts like any other. They will sit on a machine and spend many long minutes swiping, texting, playing games. Somehow they’ve convinced themselves that their actual “workout,” such as it is, is producing hoped-for results. It ain’t. The list of infractions committed by entitled gym-goers is long and boring. So how best to deal when you are locked into to a schedule and these people show up at the gym the same time that you do every time?

Ignoring people is a test of strength in itself. When I find myself focusing on one or more of these people, I have to make a concentrated effort to channel the disdain into building muscle. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that their co-opting of a desirable machine didn’t force me to use another — which turned out to be a pretty good move, actually. It’s not easy I know, and it’s harder to do at some times more than others, but unless you’re going to waste energy acting as Gym Police, it’s the wise and productive thing to do something else. We all have had neighbors, coworkers and family members we can’t get away from who get under out skin. The only way to handle these mundane gym people is by developing a thicker skin along with our muscles. 

Think of it this way: by allowing them to irk or rattle you, they are winning. They are controlling you, and little feels worse than falling under the control of a jerk or idiot. It’s in our best interest to refuse them power over us and over our workout. There’s nothing wrong with approaching the worst offenders to request they stop, but the majority are just thoughtless nincompoops wasting your time—and their own.

For solace, watch a few “gym fail” videos on youtube for some outrageous examples of clueless gym idiots and count yourself lucky these examples don’t go to YOUR gym.

Resistance Can Build Muscle, And Resistance Can Prevent Building Muscle.

We’re talking two different kinds of resistance in this case. The weight provides resistance as applied against a muscle, resulting in the muscle building and growing. But the resistance many men (and women) have at the gym to training advice keep most frustrated by their lack of progress in achieving the kind of body they’d like.

This stubbornness is a human trait found in many, the know-it-alls convinced that they know better  than anyone how to go about their workout routine despite having not studied or trained or been the student of a personal trainer or even sampling workout videos, because, you know, those people know what they’re doing. As discussed in other posts, it is fascinating that with all the mirrors at the gym, and all the gym fail videos on youtube, that these people persist in their unproductive, awkward. embarrassing and downright dangerous methods.

In the comments section of Gym Fail videos online, commenters try and shame the makers of the videos for not instead rescuing the ignorant from themselves, for not taking time out of their own workout to “help” them, to show them how to do the exercises correctly, as if on the same channel there weren’t already a thousand videos that provide exactly that guidance. It’s no secret to most veteran gym-goers that trying to advise someone who is doing it wrong brings about their wrath and anger and scorn, because, you know, they believe they’re doing it correctly, and thus it usually only takes one such incident to school the rest of us about this odd phenomenon of the gym know-it-all who is going nowhere fast.

Age 52

Richard Sullivan at age 52.

The Latest Stupidity From GQ Magazine

GQ Magazine continues to delight in being stupid. "STOCKY" is yet another concept the fools at Conde Nast's silliest and consistently most embarrassing publication fail to grasp. Somebody should tell their "writers" there's something called "dictionary.com".

Sylvester Stallone @ Age 69

Inspiration: Sylvester Stallone @ Age 69

Struggle vs. Challenge

Watching people at the gym struggle with performing any given exercise makes me realize that many don’t seem to know the difference between a challenge and a struggle.

A challenging weight is one that allows you to perform the exercise properly and productively with no jerking, finessing, contorting or other unproductive actions. If you can’t perform 5 reps without beginning to struggle, the weight is too heavy. There is a sweet spot you must find between your ability to perform the exercise using proper form and cheating the weight up.

The challenge is to tax the target muscle to its fullest ability so that the muscle fibers break down, which spurts regrowth—not to hoist the weight up at any cost as if you are in a powerlifting contest, which causes muscle injury. 

Gym Workouts Vs. Manual Labor

I hit the gym AND the yardwork too.

I’ve always hit it hard at the gym: challenging weight, short rest periods, intense concentration. Yet even though I am temporarily drained when I leave the gym I’m still able to do my other daily and work-related tasks.

On the other hand, physical labor, such as yard work or helping friends move knocks me out. Afterward I need a good rest and I am not prone to devoting full energies to whatever else I have to do that day.

What’s the difference? Two hours at the gym leaves me tired but still energetic, while two hours of manual labor makes me want to take a nap.

Perhaps it has something to do with manual labor being disorganized and more unpredictable than a practiced workout, but it still perplexes me why a heavy workout at the gym is less draining to me than the same amount of heavy manual labor.

What do you think?

Comparative Workout Advice

from dailynews.co.uk

For those who blow off their workout too often, or entirely, it might be useful to consider your body similarly to how you consider your car. The two have a lot in common actually, not the least of which is getting you where you need to go every day.

One way to avoid maintaining your body or maintaining your car is to deny that it’s getting older with each passing year, that it doesn’t need maintaining because it still runs "all right," and because it hasn’t broken down and left you stranded. Yet.

Sure, your body / car is not as pretty as it once was. It has a few little dings here and there and doesn’t run as well as it did, but it still gets you where you need to go. And of course if you’re not fixing the little things as they happen, the mechanical as well as the cosmetic, as time goes by these little things can lead to bigger, uglier, more costly, more inconvenient problems down the road, but hey—who’s got the time to properly maintain a car—or a body?

Having Trouble Getting It Up?

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The majority of people in the gym who are strength training/bodybuilding/weightlifting make the mistake of  prioritizing “getting the weight up” over proper form—proper form being the most expedient route toward achieving productive results.

This is why we see so much poor form and so much cheating at the gym—and thus so many injuries: for these people their workout is primarily a contest. It’s about testing themselves with poundages.

Challenging the target muscle with demanding yet manageable poundages is the foundation of any sound strength training/bodybuilding/weightlifting program; hoisting ungodly amounts of weight just for the sake of moving it is not. Proving one’s mettle by hoisting Herculean poundages is called powerlifting, not bodybuilding. All things considered, powerlifting is more about strength-testing than strength training.

Weight is the tool we use to challenge the target muscle so that it will strengthen and grow in a way that will make us more formidable in both strength and attractiveness. Lift too heavy and the opposite is often the result due to improper form.

The egoists will always insist that you’re doing it wrong if you are not lifting heavy, so go ahead, let them pontificate. I’ve found most of these types to be in their twenties, immature and lacking in necessary life experience. 95% of them will not be still training into their 60s, 50s or even their 40s due to their espousing this sort of lunkheaded dogma. They will wreck themselves long before, and most will be too proud to ever admit that’s the reason they are no longer in the gym. They aren’t living in your body and won’t be paying the price for your injuries. Free advice is rarely that; there’s almost always a cost.

Looking around the gym it’s usually easy to spot those who have a plan, a schematic for achieving their goal. These are the people who aren’t jabbering with others or continually swiping their phone or resting for five minutes between each set. They are the ones with their nose to the grindstone—but sensibly so. They use proper form. They aren’t paying attention to what anyone else is doing. They aren’t misusing the machines as if they were rides at Disneyland. They aren’t self-conscious nor do they care what others think. Their success is right there in the results they have achieved: they’re wearing it, 24/7.

All things being equal, who do you think might offer the soundest example and most level-headed advice based on experience, the boastful gung-ho guy in his twenties or the impressively buffed guy in his 50s and beyond? All ages have both sages and idiots. It’s up to us to recognize each.

GQ Magazine: The Conde Nast Family’s Autistic Child.

As a fitness author who walks the walk, I’d like to see more people think critically when it comes to “the newest thing.” Behind EVERY newest thing is money. New fashions for fall. New tech. New cars. It’s all about making a buck.

People overwhelmingly reject the basic truths of health and fitness because they are “too difficult” and instead chase every new money-making fad as if it were a promise of a magic cure-all.

"This old pro, a copywriter, a Greek named Teddy, told me the most important thing in advertising is ‘new’. It creates an itch."
—Don Draper in Mad Men 

Cryotherapy is bullshit. Detox is a completely fabricated concept. There are no “superfoods.” Extreme stretching is damaging to muscle, tendons and joints. 

Online is epidemic with this kind of crap because people want to believe in the “new” and the “easy.” Idiots write bullshit like this latest lunacy from off-the-rails GQ magazine, the Conde Nast family’s autistic child. Sadly, humans have an unquenchable need to believe nonsense, to follow, to be told what to do.

As for this cryotherapy screed, if you work out with proper form utilizing challenging yet manageable weight/resistance, you will not get injured in the first place. Only morons continue to work out once they’ve injured themselves. But to be so gullible as to believe freezing themselves makes any sense whatsoever reveals how detached from common sense some are.

Consider the source of this air-headed garbage: the writer states this:

"Since I was between sets—checking all of my social media pages and taking selfies—I took the time to Google this procedure."

Lamar Dawson cluelessly admits to being in-the-way, useless dead weight in the gym by revealing “between sets”  to taking up valuable space and distracting herself from the task at hand by engaging in social media, googling, and taking selfies rather than keeping her mind on her "workout"—such as it is.

Go home, Lamar. Seriously. People are waiting for that machine.